Colwood mayor weighs in on future of Royal Roads land

The Department of National Defense (DND) is considering divesting the land it owns that is currently occupied by Royal Roads University.

The university or the property's heritage buildings won't be affected, but the land is currently Colwood's most notable green spaces. Speaking earlier on CFAX with Adam Stirling, Mayor Carol Hamilton says Colwood has an abundance of green space, but most of it belongs to other jurisdictions.

"It's such a significant piece within Colwood, I mean there are multitudes of dog walkers, trail systems, all kinds of stuff that goes on and from all different points. You've got the Esquimalt Lagoon. You look back on that wonderful landscape. We will and are interested in keeping conversations open and hearing, and if we can participate, we'd be happy to do that."

Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation are interested in the land, and negotiations are ongoing.

Under the Oceans Protection Plan, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, today announced an additional $72,000 to support the Vancouver Aquarium's Pollution Tracker, a monitoring program that will help identify the sources of contaminants in British Columbia's marine environment. In total, the Government of Canada has contributed approximately $470,000 towards the implementation of this program.